Woodlife Trails

Sunday saw me visiting the local woods again. Armed with a packed lunch, I wanted to explore the east side of the wood a little more. This was the side I can’t really overnight in because of the large Rookery covering the area. I was surprised at the amount of Fox activity and can only presume this was a good hunting ground perhaps because of the number of Rooks that fall from the Rookery. I identified a number of kill sites in a small area. I would have to earmark this area for a sit spot at dawn or dusk to see exactly what comes in and out of the area. I picked up some evidence of feathers chewed by the Fox for my collection.

On the Bank Holiday Monday, Mrs Pablo and I decided to take Doris the Land Rover Discovery on her first decent run. We decided to go to Thetford forest, which is about an hour and a half away from us.

I knew this area was quite popular but the attraction for me was the possibility of Red squirrel sightings, a native squirrel of the British pine forests and only found in a few scattered areas around Britain. I’ve seen a couple before but mainly on the Isle of Wight.

I was devastated at the queue to get into the main High lodge area and the fact that I had to pay £6 for the parking! I was even more disappointed at the number of people and realised that perhaps this might have been a mistake. I’m all for encouraging people to experience the outdoors, but a quick scan around showed that they had already left mess and litter all over the car park and the lodge area. I was even more disappointed at the facilities at the lodge where I saw little educational material and only tourist rubbish for sale.

Nevertheless, we walked deeper into the forest and quite soon (only after about 10 minutes) the screams and general noise faded and the peace of the forest overtook the senses. I was conscious that Mrs Pablo, not an outdoor person by any means, was with me and I tried to encourage her to walk quietly. I became aware that she was already becoming a little bored.

All that changed when a Muntjac ran straight across the track we were on; a fleeting glimpse but a sighting nevertheless. This must have awakened her senses and enthusiasm as a few minutes later she spotted a Fallow fawn about 50 yards away on the edge of some young pines. We went to the spot where it had disappeared and tried to pick up any sign of exactly where it went into the thick pine, but with no luck. She was genuinely delighted with her sighting.

Another half an hour and I knew Mrs P wanted her coffee. She followed the main track back to the lodge and I picked a sit spot to watch for squirrels. I had no luck in the half an hour I was there and had to content myself with photographing some form of Clavulinopsis fungus (Yellow club I think) and a brown dragonfly, which I hope (but doubt) is a rare Norfolk hawker.

We moved on swiftly from this part of the forest to visit Grimes Graves, a interesting Neolithic flint mine, where, for £2, you can actually go down the mine. Not a great deal to see, but you certainly got the impression of how Neolithic man worked to excavate the valuable flint using only antler axes and tools. I just couldn’t help but laugh at Mrs P in her hard hat!

We finished the day looking out over the meadow land towards the edge of the forest imagining the days when the mined flint was made into tools for hunting and skinning to provide food and clothing. Even Mrs P looked contemplative as the sun started to set over the forest. A peak to end the weekend.

Pablo.